LONDON – The British street artist Banksy pulled off one of his most spectacular pranks on Friday night, when one of his trademark paintings appeared to self-destruct at Sotheby’s in London after selling for $1.4 million at auction. The work, „Girl With Balloon,“ a 2006 spray paint on canvas, was the last lot of Sotheby’s „Frieze Week“ evening contemporary art sale.

Banksy has released a video showing how he secretly built a shredder into one of his paintings that self-destructed after it was sold for more than £1m. The framed Girl With Balloon, one of the artist’s best known works, was auctioned by Sotheby’s in London.